"I think they're silly," said a city staffer, who did not want to be identified. "Somebody's going to hit me whether or not I'm carrying a flag in my hand."

They were among pedestrians crossing Broad Street Tuesday afternoon outside the Margaret E. Morton Government Center and ignored the three plastic yellow flags the city installed at either end of the crosswalk.

The plan is for walkers to grab a flag-on-a-stick from a holder on a light pole, wave it in front of traffic and -- hopefully -- scoot their way to safety on the other side, leaving the flag for someone else.

Already on Tuesday there were some kinks in the system.

What happens if all the flags end up on one side of the street, for instance?

The pilot program was suggested by Councilman James Holloway, D-139, based on flags in use in Salt Lake City. If successful downtown, the initiative may be expanded elsewhere in Bridgeport.

The city bought 80 of the neon-yellow plastic flags on sticks, along with holders and decals, at a cost of about $1,000. Each flag has a black silhouette of a cartoon man; the icon also holds a little black flag.

Even Police Chief Joseph Gaudett, who joined Holloway and Mayor Bill Finch at a sidewalk news conference to discuss the flags Tuesday, acknowledged, "This is kind of an out-of-the-box idea for New England, for Connecticut, for Bridgeport."

But, he said, the city is willing to try whatever it takes to help keep people safe.

Six pedestrians have been killed in Bridgeport since 2010. Just last summer there were five motor vehicle accidents that either seriously injured or killed a pedestrian. Two of those involved small children.

The warning flags are a minor response; the police department has stepped up traffic enforcement, particularly in the most dangerous neighborhoods.

Finch on Tuesday suggested the city is also willing to consider installing more speed bumps in trouble spots.

"The chief and I have had to go to Yale (New Haven Hospital) several times to see children brutally injured," Finch said. "Thankfully, most of those children have made it, miraculously ... But these can be avoided."

Salt Lake City launched its pedestrian flags in 2000, expanding them to 250 locations.

"I think it's quite effective," said Mike Barry, transportation engineer for Salt Lake's transportation division. "I've lived in Salt Lake for a long time ... If you have that flag in your hand, that's a signal you are trying to cross. It's very visible and I think helps the pedestrian. They're making more eye contact with drivers. They're not just whipping across the street, thinking they have the right of way."

The one downside, Barry said, is the flags tend to "disappear."

"We just go through a lot of them," he said.

Siovhan Boyd said the flags were a good idea -- after they were pointed out to her.